China normally prohibits local governments from issuing bonds directly or from taking bank loans, confining such bonds to those issued by the central government on their behalf.

Local governments owe about 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) in debt through financing vehicles set up mainly to support construction projects, according to Beijing. Issuing bonds would help them to honor those obligations.

“Currently, economic growth is slowing and external demand is falling, and we should make employment even more of a priority in economic and social development, doing our utmost to expand employment,” Wen told officials in Guangxi, a poorer region next to export-driven Guangdong province, the official People’s Daily reported.

Wen also said another plank of the government’s efforts to contain price rises — containing housing costs — was at a crucial stage.

As of August, China had built 8.68 million units of homes for rental or sale to poorer families this year, putting it on track to fulfill its full-year goal of 10 million homes.